Despite orders, MC fails to act against illegal structure

In what could be called as the lackadaisical nature or ignorance of the municipal corporation to act against illegal constructions across the city, the civic body has failed to take action against high profile building, housing Kalyan Jewellers, constructed on plot number 188 at Rani Jhansi Road, despite orders from the state government on February 26 this year. The building is owned by Yogesh Khosla.

In what could be called as the lackadaisical nature or ignorance of the municipal corporation to act against illegal constructions across the city, the civic body has failed to take action against high profile building, housing Kalyan Jewellers, constructed on plot number 188 at Rani Jhansi Road, despite orders from the state government on February 26 this year. The building is owned by Yogesh Khosla.

The department of local government had declared this structure as illegal and ordered the structure to be either sealed or demolished.

Around two weeks have passed since the orders were passed on February 26, the civic body, headed by commissioner Shruti Singh, has failed to take action against the structure.

Hindustan Times had exposed the irregularities in this illegal structure on January 2, after which, the then MC commissioner Rahul Tewari had ordered an inquiry into the case.

Startling revelations against three officials of the MC building branch, Zone D, were revealed in which it was disclosed that they failed to perform their duties.

The inquiry report prepared by Zone-D had nailed assistant town planners (ATP) Surinder Bindra and Ramesh Chhabra and head draftsman Mohan Singh, all posted at Zone-D office, when the showroom was being constructed.

Instead of a single unit, the building was constructed by clubbing two different approved maps, a gross violation of the building bylaws.

Chhabra and Mohan Singh had allowed the building to be constructed, stated the internal report. On the other hand, Bindra also did not take any action against the constructed structure.

Astonishingly, despite the construction of another illegal floor by the building owner, the MC building branch did not pay any heed.

According to the internal inquiry marked by the MC, the owner of the building got two building plans approved in October 2007 and March 2008.

“The map number 376-D was approved on October 22 ( 492.29 sq yard area), whereas the map number 562 -D was approved on March 4 (492.50 sq yard area) and both the structures were clubbed in 2009,” stated the report.

As per the building bye-laws, a map for a building, measuring 985 sq yard, has to be approved by the state government, not by the MC.

“The building owner, to avoid the approval from the state government, got approval of two different maps for a single building with the help of the three MC officials,” said a senior official of the building branch.

Another fact which has come out in the inquiry was that the owner had asked the MC to compound the building and charge a compounding fee.

The then MC commissioner had asked his staff to compound the building. However, against the orders of the commissioner, documents regarding the building were not forwarded by Mohan Singh and Ramesh Chhabra.

Sources said the building was compounded at the MC level and another illegal floor was constructed after a few months.

The then ATP Surinder Bindra reportedly issued two different No Objection Certificates (NOC) for a single building without even visiting the site.

The entire issue rattled the MC office and a report was sent to the chief vigilance officer (CVO) to take the appropriate action.

The department of local government ordered demolition or sealing orders on February 26 but the building branch has not taken any action so far.

Kamaljit Kaur, ATP, headquarter, said the action should be taken against the building owner by the building branch of Zone-D office of the MC, headed by ATP Rajinder Sharma. “I am not aware of the reason for the delay but the action should have been taken against the accused,” said Kaur. However, Sharma did not respond to the repeated calls.